SUTD Indoor Sports Hall, Monday, June 12, 2017 — Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) came up clutch in the fourth quarter to defeat Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) 48-44 in the National Youth Sports Institute (NYSI) Basketball League.

With this win, NYP improve to a 1-1 win-loss record after losing to Temasek Polytechnic previously.

On the other hand, SUTD drop to a 0-2 record. They lost to Anglo-Chinese School Oldham previously.

Bryan Lim (SUTD #2) made the first basket of the game, knocking down a wide open jumper to give SUTD the lead. However, Poh Wei Jun (NYP #4) answered with a three of his own. Both sides’ shooting were off in the first quarter. Despite that, whenever one side scored, the other would respond with a shot of their own. SUTD were up 9-7 after the first.

In the second, NYP caught fire. Poh Wei Jun (NYP #4) knocked down two three-point shots and scored 10 of his game-high 20 points in the second quarter. They also played tough defense on SUTD to limit their scoring. This helped contribute to the 20-point performance by NYP in the second quarter. NYP were up 27-17 at the half.

However, SUTD came into the third with every intention to get back the lead. They hustled on the defensive end and played with intensity on defense. SUTD were able to get several defensive stops and capitalized on the offensive opportunities their defense created. Xing Bo (SUTD #15) scored three straight baskets as SUTD outscored NYP 13-5 in the third to cut NYP’s lead to just two.

In the fourth, SUTD carried their momentum from the third over and continued to play well. Sim Jun (NYP #11) makes a shot to start the fourth but Bryan Lim (SUTD #2) answered with the hoop and the harm. He completed the three-point play to cut NYP’s lead to one. On the ensuing play, Bryan (SUTD #2) made the fast-break layup to give SUTD the one-point lead.

Despite that, Sim Zhen (NYP #13) answered with a tough reverse followed by a three from Jeryl Neo (NYP #7) to reclaim the lead. SUTD played on calmly and were able to take the four-point lead behind Bryan Lim’s (SUTD #2) clutch shots.

However, Poh Wei Jun (NYP #4) shone as he knocked down a clutch three to cut SUTD’s lead down to one. On the ensuing play, Syed Aziz Syed Adnan Alattas (NYP #21) drew the foul and was sent to the free-throw line. He missed both of his free-throws, but once again Poh Wei Jun (NYP #4) stepped up. He came flying in to crash the boards and got the offensive put-back. This gave NYP the one-point lead.

SUTD called for a timeout to draw up a play. The SUTD players worked the in-bound play to perfection which got Xing Bo (SUTD #15) a wide open uncontested under-basket shot. However he was not able to convert. Sim Zhen (NYP #13) was fouled and made one of two free-throws to extend their lead to two.

With time winding down, Poh Wei Jun (NYP #4) got a steal and went coast to coast for the basket to seal the deal and take the game 48-44.

Poh Wei Jun (NYP #4), who was clutch down the stretch, commented, “Technically what I was thinking at that moment was just to win. I wanted to win for my team. Our coach wasn’t here today and we were on our own with only our teacher in charge. So when we were down to the last minute, all I wanted to do was help my team win the game.”

“SUTD is very hardworking. They have a never-give-up mentality which is very good. We didn’t play up to our standard and gave them several easy baskets. This gave them the opportunity to catch up. This is one thing we as a team have to work on which is our defense. This is a lesson learnt for us. We can also learn from SUTD’s mentality to never give up and continue to improve on our own game.”